Several major state road construction projects will significantly change the transportation landscape in Lee County in the coming years, including a modernization of Horner Boulevard, a “reduced conflict corridor” along U.S. 1 in Tramway, and a rerouting of Kelly Drive so that it no longer bisects the Sanford campus of Central Carolina Community College.
Brandon Jones of the North Carolina Department of Transportation, North Carolina Transportation Board Member Lisa Mathis, and city Planner David Montgomery gave a presentation to the Sanford Area Chamber of Commerce Monday about these projects and more, which are set to be let for bidding in consecutive years beginning in 2021.
Although each of the projects has been in discussion for some time, they’ve been somewhat delayed – along with other projects across the state – by three consecutive years in which major hurricanes caused state disaster relief funding to be about four times the amount spent in recent prior years.
The projects include:
*Widening N.C. 42 and Broadway Road between Sanford and Broadway. DOT crews are currently relocating utilities along 42 for that project, which is scheduled to be let for bids in April 2021.
*Rerouting Kelly Drive so that it goes around Central Carolina Community College to the east, making the main Sanford campus whole. That project will be let for bids in March 2022.
*Modernizing Horner Boulevard between the U.S. 1 bridge at the north end of town and the railroad bridge just south of Washington Avenue. That project will be let for bids in July 2023.
*Widening Carthage Street from Wicker Street to Firetower Road, including the placement of multiple roundabouts along the route. That project will be let for bids sometime in 2023.
*Creating a “reduced conflict corrdidor” – otherwise known as a “super street” on U.S. 1 in the Tramway area. The Rant wrote about that project, which will be let for bids in July 2024, in 2018.